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“Society is at once pulled forward by its own magnetic images of an idealised future and pushed from behind by its realised past.*” This is a particularly apt description of Adelaide’s early residents and of Charles Todd himself. Working with some of the best scientific brains of his day, what did Todd learn in his early years in England? And how did this past drive his 50 year commitment to the future of his new homeland?

* Dutch sociologist, Fred Polak

Dr Tony Rogers has been working for 5 years on Todd's legacy to Australian meteorology. He is about to publish a book that situates the reader alongside the young Todd, and vividly sets the scene in early colonial Adelaide that greeted Todd on his arrival in 1855. This is a great foundation story of colonial science, but also an interesting review of the social scene of the first 15 years of our city.